World Vignettes

1,800-yr-old mosaic unearthedROME: In a discovery hailed by Roman officials on Friday as sensational,'' archaeologists have uncovered a la...

1,800-yr-old mosaic unearthed

ROME: In a discovery hailed by Roman officials on Friday as 8220;sensational,8221; archaeologists have uncovered a large ancient mosaic and say there are more buried nearby. Announcing the find yesterday, city officials said the mosaic appears to be around 1,800 years old. It was found at the baths of Trajan near where archaeologists recently discovered a wall painting they think is a map of ancient Rome. The mosaic is two meters high and a meter wide and depicts a man leaning on a column. City officials said it appears to be part of a large, decorated wall. A tiny camera lowered into the excavation site showed another, even larger mosaic nearby showing a man harvesting grapes. The head of the city8217;s cultural patrimony department, Eugenio La Rocca, told a news conference that the mosaics promise to provide a 8220;unique8221; picture of Roman life in the 2nd century A.D.

Finger8217; loaf

MADRID: A Spanish family had a gory surprise at dinner: they found a human finger insidea loaf of bread, press reports have said. The finger belonged to the Madrid baker who had made the bread. On the same day, he had had three fingers of his left hand crushed by a machine at the bakery. His hand was bandaged at a hospital and he did not at first realize that he had lost a fingertip. When the father of the Serrano family started eating his bread at dinner, he noticed something dark inside. It was a human fingertip, with nail and all, the reports yesterday said. The man rushed to the toilet to vomit. The family8217;s seven-year-old son is still obsessed by the incident, and the family can no longer stand the sight of bread, Mrs Serrano said.

Double births

BARRIE CANADA: Talk about close siblings: two sisters took sibling rivalry to another level this week, giving birth 20 minutes apart in adjoining rooms at the hospital. Lisa Morton, of Barrie, and Kelly Parker, of Alcona, Ontario, both had healthy daughters early Wednesday. 8220;We didn8217;t exactly plan it this way,8221; said Kelly, stillrecuperating in a hospital room that she is sharing with her sister. 8220;We were three weeks apart, but it sort of worked out this way.8221; The 29-year-old mom was due to give birth to her second child about ten days ago. Kelly gave birth to 4.22 kg Stephanie at 1:57 a.m. Lisa8217;s daughter Jordan arrived about 20 minutes later, healthy and happy at 3.46 kg. 8220;It made for a very interesting evening,8221; said David, Kelly8217;s husband.

Historic baby

BEIJING: A 12-day-old Hong Kong baby has entered the annals of medical history by becoming the world8217;s youngest patient to undergo a keyhole surgery in his large intestine. The boy was suffering from total colonic aganglionosis, an illness that can cause fatal bowel obstruction for lack of nerve cells in the large intestine. He was diagnosed two days after birth. The infant successfully underwent a laparoscopic, or keyhole surgery, in which surgeons inserted a thin tube with a light and camera into the body. It was the first time in the world that a laproscopicsurgery was conducted in so young a baby.